


Tumblr short fics

by Fangirl_on_a_bicycle



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Short Fics, Tumblr, Tumblr Prompts, amedotbomb
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:55:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8376430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_on_a_bicycle/pseuds/Fangirl_on_a_bicycle
Summary: Short things I originally posted to tumblr. Ratings etc. will vary (so far the highest I'd rate anything is Teen), but if anything needs to be warned for I'll put it in the chapter summaries. My tumblr is aprillikesthings!





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the amedotbomb prompt "selfies"

Peridot quickly realized the tablet Steven gave her had a camera, and she took a number of photos as she got the hang of it, mostly of morps and Lapis. She even posted a couple of them online.

  
While experimenting with the settings she found the front-facing camera, and was startled to see herself on screen. She made a bunch of silly faces at herself, snapping away, and then felt suddenly self-conscious and deleted them all.

  
The first time she showed the front-facing camera to Amethyst, Amethyst insisted on using it to take photo after photo with Peridot and Steven. Amethyst spent several minutes being silly with it, snapping dozens of shots, before losing interest and handing the tablet back to Peridot.

  
Peridot rolled her eyes as she took it back and closed the camera app, attempting to act casual.

  
Later, alone in the dark of the barn that evening, she looked at each of them, savoring every shot of Amethyst. Even the badly-taken ones. One shot stood out. It was in focus, not blurry, not badly-lit. Steven was blinking, on the left. Amethyst was in the middle and laughing and looking directly at the camera so it looked like she was making eye contact. The sun was shining on her hair in such a way to make it almost glow around her happy face. She was beautiful. On the right side of the photo, Peridot was watching Amethyst take the photo. She’d never seen herself with that expression before, and didn’t know what to make of it. Why was she looking at Amethyst that way? Did she make that face a lot? Had anyone else noticed? Had Amethyst noticed?

  
What was her face even doing?! Peridot tried to look at it rationally: she was half-smiling. Her eyes were soft. There was a slight tint to her cheeks, visible even with the visor.

  
She looked through the next few photos and she wasn’t making that inexplicable expression. But she was also not looking at Amethyst.

  
She deleted most of the photos, especially the blurry or out-of-focus shots. She kept the one of Amethyst laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> amethirstyperidrunk on tumblr posted, "Peridot and Amethyst like to role play, use food, and are kinky af."

Amethyst pulls an armful of cans of cake frosting out of the pantry, walks onto the warp pad, disappears. Pearl notices and doesn’t say anything.

  
Later that day Amethyst and Peridot are back at the temple playing video games. Steven goes to join in, gets a look of confusion, leans over and sniffs Peridot.

  
“Why do you smell like vanilla?”

  
Pearl glares at Amethyst and Peridot. Peridot blushes. Amethyst says in a bored voice, “We were eating cake frosting.”

  
“Then why does only Peridot smell like it?”

  
“She’s a messy eater.”

  
Steam is nearly coming out of Pearl’s ears and she jumps in, loudly: “So! What game are you playing?”

  
Peridot is still blushing and not speaking.

  
(I tagged the original post #spoiler alert #peri didn't eat any frosting)


	3. Amedotbomb5, day one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: New Years [or “celebration”]

“What’s the occasion for this celebration?” Peridot sat on the blanket on the beach behind most of the human crowd, a puffy lime green coat and too-large black rubber boots over her uniform, a wooden spoon in one hand, and a metal cooking pot floating gently to the ground in front of her. The humans near them didn’t seem to notice, but then, it was dark. (They rarely noticed much anyway.)

Amethyst sat down next to her, another wooden spoon in one hand and a metal baking pan under her arm. “Humans like to have a party and make a lot of noise at midnight when the calendar changes from one year to the next. Right now it’s 2016, but at midnight it’ll be 2017.”  
  
“2,017 of what?"  
  
“Years! In theory New Year’s is the moment when Earth has finished going around the sun once. But it’s not a perfect measurement, so they add an extra day every four years.”  
  
Peridot looked even more confused. “But the Earth wouldn’t even be in the same place anyway! The star at the center of this solar system is always in motion around the center of its galaxy, and that’s always moving in space as well. And this planet is far older than 2,017 rotations.”  
  
“Oh jeez Peridot, ask Pearl about all that some other time, I know she knows all that stuff. She explained it all to me once but it’s all old human stuff. They’ve been doing it that way for so long they don’t wanna change it, I guess. I think some other places on Earth have different ways of counting the years. Pretty sure most of them do something when their new year starts, though. Any excuse for a party!”  
  
Peridot opened her mouth to say something else, but around them people started to get more excited as they counted backwards, with more and more joining in until everyone was counting: “Ten, nine, eight, seven…”  
  
“Okay Peri, when it’s midnight you gotta make noise banging on the pot.”  
  
“Uh, all right.” Human celebrations might be illogical but they were usually harmless. The pot hovered in front of her, and she held the wooden spoon at the ready.  
  
“….one! Happy New Year!” Peridot’s arm reached up to hit the pot, but before she could, Amethyst wrapped a hand around her arm and leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. The pot fell to the blanket as Peridot turned to look at her in shock. Amethyst still had a spoon in her other hand but was looking at Peridot, smiling shyly.  
  
“Happy New Year, Peridot.” All around them humans shouted and banged on pots and pans, but Peridot didn’t notice them.  
  
She moved forward and kissed Amethyst on the lips before she could lose her nerve. Amethyst dropped the spoon entirely to wrap both arms around Peridot’s waist and pull her closer and kiss her again. Peridot wrapped her own arms around Amethyst’s neck and marveled at all the different things that happened while kissing–closing your eyes, tilting your head so your noses didn’t bump, pulling your face away just barely before making your lips meet again, their bodies pressing together slightly, Amethyst’s hair brushing against her face a little where the wind picked it up. Amethyst’s lips were so soft. Peridot noted what felt nice and tried to repeat it back, which must have been the right thing to do because Amethyst inhaled quickly through her nose and held her tighter.  
  
**BOOM!** They both jumped and looked up just in time to see the first of the fireworks, showering bright, colorful sparks over the ocean.  
  
“Humans like decorative airborne explosions?!”  
  
“Yup. Beach City has some good ones too.” Peridot realized her and Amethyst were still holding each other even though they’d stopped kissing, but giving it a moment’s consideration, she found she liked it. She liked it a lot.  
  
“Happy New Year, Amethyst.”


	4. Amedotbomb5, day two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: Presents

“Hey Ste-man, can I use your phone?”

Steven didn’t even look away from his video game after pausing it to pull the phone out of his pocket. “Yeah, sure! Whaddya need it for?”

“Oh, just texting Peri.” But Steven had already un-paused his game.

Amethyst opened the messages and scrolled down until she found Peridot. 

**Steven:** This is Amethyst using Steven’s phone. Can you come over? I have something to show you.

Almost immediately, dots appeared in the word bubble, then the response:

**Peridot:** Right now or at a later time? 

**Steven:** Either is fine. 

**Peridot:** Then I’ll come over now!

Amethyst smiled to herself. Peridot had no chill. At all. 

“Thanks for letting me use your phone.” Amethyst held it out, but Steven wasn’t even looking, so she put it on the floor next to him.

“Uh-huh. Aaaugh, whaaaat?!” Steven’s character in Lonely Blade was not doing so hot.

Amethyst walked back down to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Did she want anything? Not right now. She briefly considered offering to play against Steven but decided against it. She didn’t want to be out of sight of the warp pad so going into her room was out.  _ Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m nervous, that’s what it is. Why am I nervous? There’s no reason to be nervous! It’s just Peridot. _

Amethyst was standing in the kitchen wondering what to do to pass the time when the warp pad lit up and Peridot appeared. 

“Holy moly Peri, did you run?!”

“No! Maybe. Yes. Anyway, what did you want to show me?”

“You haven’t seen any of our rooms yet, right?”

“I’ve seen Steven’s room. But I’m also technically standing in it.”

“His doesn’t count. I mean it does but it doesn’t.” 

“That’s a confusing sentence but I think I understand you. I have not been in any of the other Crystal Gems’ rooms.”

Amethyst absentmindedly rubbed the back of her head. “Did you maybe want to see my room?”

Peridot’s face lit up. “Yes! I’d love to! But is there a particular reason you texted me to show it to me today?”

“Yeah, actually. So….my room. Is a huge mess. I dunno if anyone told you.”

“It hasn’t come up in discussions with the other gems.”

“I guess it wouldn’t. But yeah, I have a lot of stuff in there that I’ve collected since I came to live with the Crystal Gems, and some of it is good stuff and I thought you might wanna use it for those morps things you do with Lapis, that’s all. Ah hell, I should just show you instead of talking about it, c’mon.”

Amethyst grabbed Peridot’s hand and walked through the door as it separated. She heard the door close behind them and hesitated a second before turning around to see Peridot’s reaction. 

Of all the reactions she’d imagined, Peridot getting star eyes was not one of them. 

“This is all yours?!”

“Yeah.”

“Are these all morps?”

“Ah, no. I mean most of it I’ve put in specific piles on purpose so I could find it later but I sometimes forget what’s in the piles.” Usually, actually; but she wasn’t going to say that.

“Can I look around?”

“Yeah! That’s why I brought you in here. If you wanna take anything back to the barn, lemme know. There’s a few things I want to keep but most of it is up for grabs. Be careful, though. Some of the piles can fall over easy.” 

“Is this...is this a gift?”

“Yeah, I guess it is?” 

Peridot turned towards Amethyst, stood up straight, and looked her in the eyes with a serious expression before saying, “Wow, thanks!”

Amethyst laughed. “You’re welcome, nerd!” 

But Peridot was already pulling her further into the room, towards a pile of old car parts. “I have an idea for what to do with some of these!”


	5. Amedotbomb5, day three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: Winter Wear
> 
> This ended up going in a direction I really wasn’t expecting. Heads-up for Peridot having a flashback and disassociating.

The bells over the door made a tinkling sound as Amethyst and Peridot walked into the small secondhand charity shop. Peridot wrinkled her nose; it always smelled weird in here.  
  
The variety of human clothing was glorious. She’d noticed the signs on the racks dividing the items by human genders and ages but had promptly decided they were silly and ignored them. She just preferred things that didn’t limit her movement. She didn’t need clothing, but temporarily changing her appearance, considering she couldn’t shapeshift, was still novel; and hiding any of the diamonds on her uniform still gave her a slight thrill.  
  
Peridot flipped through a rack of clothes labeled “boys’ jackets.” She already had that puffy green jacket she wore on New Year’s, and the memory made her smile. Most of the things on this rack were boring, though. Human boys and men seemed to wear a very limited color palette.  
  
Amethyst gasped from behind a circular rack. “Hey Peri, come look at this.”  
  
Peridot put back the denim jacket she’d just tried on. (Too stiff.) Amethyst was holding up a fluffy sweater with a familiar shape on the front.  
  
“It’s an old-school UFO! It looks kinda like the old gem ship in South America.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Y’know, the one where you tried to kill us? Or one of the times. That’s where Pearl and Garnet made up, finally; have I told you about that? Oh man, that’s also when we stole your old foot. That feels like forever ago now!” Amethyst was looking at the sweater with amusement. “Huh, and now Centipeetle lives there.”  
  
Peridot felt odd in a way she didn’t understand and didn’t like. “I try not to think too much about the stuff I did back then.”  
  
Amethyst looked back at Peridot and her face fell. She put the sweater back on the rack. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry.”  
  
Peridot blinked, and vividly remembered that ship, and all the things she did there, trying to keep the Crystal Gems from meddling in her plans to get away, she had to get away. Her limb enhancers felt so odd with just the foot missing. She was still tall, and had her logs, but she was all alone. So alone, and she had get off Earth before the Cluster emerged, and she was alone…Peridot swallowed hard and took a deep breath and shook her head. She wasn’t there. She didn’t have her limb enhancers anymore. She was in a small shop in Beach City, with Amethyst, and part of the Crystal Gems, and she was fine. Everything was fine. Everything was fine.  
  
“It’s…it’s fine.” Peridot hated seeing Amethyst unhappy about anything.  
  
Amethyst was holding both of her hands in her own now, when did that happen? “It isn’t, actually; but we don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t wanna. Did you want to stay here or go somewhere else?”  
  
Peridot’s voice felt so small. Just like the rest of her. “I don’t know.” She sniffled, and why did her face feel wet? She pulled a hand away from Amethyst’s and touched her own face. She was crying. When had she started crying?  
  
Amethyst gently pulled her to a sagging couch against a wall, among the crowded bits of old furniture, and Peridot felt weirdly disconnected from her own body, like it was moving without her. Amethyst sat down and patted the spot next to her, and Peridot sat down with a small sense of relief. On some kind of instinct, she curled up in a ball, hugging her knees and leaning on Amethyst, who wrapped an arm around her.  
  
“I’m so sorry, Peridot. I didn’t meant to upset you. I should’ve thought a little harder before opening my big mouth.”  
  
Peridot sniffled again and hid her face in her knees for several minutes, and tried not to fight the waves of misery and shame, letting them wash over her, and they slowly got smaller and smaller. She looked up and mentally checked in with her surroundings: She could see a bunch of old human furniture and racks of clothing and the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. She could feel the springs of the cushion under her and the comforting weight of Amethyst’s arm around her and Amethyst’s side pressed against hers. She could smell the funky smell the store always had and Amethyst’s hair. She could hear human music coming from a small radio on the counter where you paid for things. The Cluster was bubbled and she hadn’t murdered any of the Crystal Gems and Earth was her home now and she’d kissed Amethyst several times and she was okay, really okay. She took another deep breath and sat up and wiped at her eyes under her visor.  
  
Amethyst rubbed her back. “Did you want to go back to the barn?”  
  
“Only if you come with me.”  
  
“Sure thing, Peri.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (no but really, my original idea with the “winter wear” prompt was gonna be them looking at ugly colorful sweaters until the person working in the shop remembered Amethyst (who at some previous point made a wreck of the place) and booted them out, HA HA HA, but then I had Amethyst find a sweater with a space ship on it and It All Went to Hell and I upset myself writing it, what iN THE FUCK)


	6. Amedotbomb5, day four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: A Winter Sport 
> 
> (nothing but sweet cute stuff this time, promise)

The light of the warp pad faded but Amethyst was still blinking; the sun reflecting off the foot of snow that had fallen in the night was nearly blinding until her eyes adjusted. 

Steven ran off, or tried to; but he sunk into the snow and then started slowly stomping his way towards the barn, dragging a cheap plastic sled behind him on top of the snow.

“You sure you don’t want me to just shapeshift into a sled or something and bring us both to the barn? It would be faster.” 

“No, I’ll be fine. I like the sound the snow makes when I walk in it.”

“Okay. Lemme know if you change your mind.”

As they (finally) approached the barn, Amethyst heard Lapis and Peridot arguing about the fish in the aquarium they’d made from the old silo: 

“They’re gonna freeze to death!” 

“They’ll be fine, they come from a nearby river that probably freezes up sometimes. And the top is barely frozen!” 

“And it probably kills them in the river, too!”

“Look, I’ll make the ice melt…..there. Is that better?”

“....yes.”

Steven called out, “Hellooooo! We’re here!”

Lapis walked out, still barefoot in a halter top and skirt oblivious to the chill. Peridot ran out behind her, and was wearing the puffy jacket and boots from New Year’s, along with a knit hat that wasn’t staying on her head very well. 

“Steven! Amethyst! You’re here! What is the function of that object behind you?”

“I thought you could try sledding! You sit on it at the top of a hill and ride it to the bottom, and then walk back to the top of the hill and do it again.”

“For what purpose?”

“It’s fun! Well, the going downhill part is. Not always the coming back up.”

Peridot made her way over and looked at the sled, it was just a bit of tray-shaped plastic with a nylon rope attached to one end. 

“This is very...primitive.”

Amethyst grinned. “What, don’t think you can steer it?”

“Of course I can! I can control nearly every ship Homeworld’s ever made, surely I can control this thing.” God, Peridot was too easy to rile up. 

Steven said, “Here, just watch me ride it once, then you can try it, okay?”

They made their way to the nearby slope, and Steven held the rope and sat down in the sled, which sunk into the snow under his weight. 

“Amethyst, can you give me a push? Not a big one! Just enough to get started.”

“Awww, fine. Here you go.” Amethyst grabbed the back of the sled and nudged him forward, and down Steven went.

“Woohoooooo!!” He wasn’t able to pick up much speed in the fresh snow, but he slid to the bottom and then got out and waved back at them. His voice was small from that distance. “See? Fun!”

He started trudging up the hill again, but Lapis smiled. “That’ll take forever! I’ll go help.” She flew down, and after some negotiation, Steven sat back down and Lapis flew back up the hill, holding the rope of the sled, pulling a cheering Steven up the hill. He stepped out at the top and said, “That’s much faster! Thanks, Lapis! Okay Peridot, now it’s your turn if you want to go.”

“Only if I go, too!” Amethyst smiled again, and Peridot held the rope and looked back at her. 

“It’ll be fine, Peridot, I just wanna ride in the sled with you. You can ride in front and steer it.” 

Peridot’s nervous expression turned to beaming. “Yes! I can control the sled.” She sat down with her feet braced against the front just like Steven had. Amethyst stepped in behind her, then wrapped one arm around Peridot’s middle before reaching out and pushing against the snow next to them. 

They were fine for most of the way down the hill. Amethyst could hear Steven cheering behind them, and Peridot was giggling in that little “nyeh heh heh” she always did...until they hit a bump, hidden under all the snow, and Peridot shrieked and over-corrected, and Amethyst and Peridot tumbled out of the sled and rolled over several times.

Amethyst sat up and shook snow out of her hair and looked over: Peridot had fallen into a drift in such a way that her feet stuck up and her face was hidden and her arms were waving as she tried to clamber her way out. Amethyst couldn’t help laughing as she crawled the few feet to Peridot and looked at her flustered face. 

“You okay, Per-bear? Want any help?”

“I’m fine!” she shouted, as she pushed herself up to sitting. Her hat had come off and was a distance away, not far from the sled. 

Amethyst tried to suppress her laughing but failed. “Oh man, I hope Steven got that on his phone, because that video’s gonna be hilarious.” 

“It’s not my fault the sled is so primitive and difficult!” 

“Peri, falling off is half the fun!” Peridot still looked affronted. 

Amethyst stood up and grabbed the sled and Peridot’s hat before walking back to Peridot and holding a hand out to help her up. “C’mon.” 

Peridot grabbed Amethyst’s hand, and Amethyst pulled her up--and impulsively kissed her. Peridot gasped, and Amethyst couldn’t help wrapping an arm around her lower back to kiss her again, and they lost track of time like that, giggling and kissing--until they heard a soft noise above them, and looked up to see an amused Lapis.

“Steven got the whole thing on his phone. Including some of the kissing. Which, by the way, he didn’t know that’s a thing the two of you are doing now, so he’s  _ really _ excited.”

Amethyst groaned and Peridot put her hands over her face. Lapis laughed. “You guys really hadn't told him?” 

“No,” Amethyst replied. “I mean it’s not, like, a secret? But he’s such an incurable romantic. Plus he’s gonna tell Pearl! Cat’s out of the bag now, I guess.” 

Peridot looked like she was about to ask about cats and bags, but before she could, Amethyst shoved the knit hat back onto Peridot’s head, still full of snow, and started running up the hill. Peridot shrieked with laughter and started chasing her. 

Lapis swooped low enough to grab the handle of the sled before heading back towards Steven.


	7. Amedotbomb5, day five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: Snow Day
> 
> (I cheated a little--it's a continuation of the last chapter.)

Amethyst and Peridot arrived at the top of the sledding hill to a Steven hopping from one foot to another with stars in his eyes, and there was a barrage of questions and comments, which Amethyst mostly dealt with:

“Are you girlfriends now??”

“Yes.”

“When did you start kissing??”

“New Year’s.”

“You’re so cute together!”

With a gentle laugh: “Thanks.”

“Have you told Pearl??”

With a sigh: “Not yet.”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, sure. She’ll figure it out sooner or later anyway.”

“When did you know you liked each other?” This was aimed at Peridot, who blushed.

“I don’t know exactly when I started liking Amethyst. I don’t think I really knew that I did until Amethyst kissed me, and then I realized I’d felt that way for a long time.”

Steven’s squeal of delight startled Peridot a little.

Amethyst said, “Aw, you never told me that,” and grabbed Peridot’s hand.

“Well, I mean, you didn’t ask.” Peridot’s face had gone a splotchy blue.

Steven turned towards Amethyst. “When did you know?!”

“Ah crud, I dunno. I think when Peridot yelled at Yellow Diamond? Maybe before that. But that’s when I started thinking about it. It kinda, I dunno, it kinda grew from there, I guess.” And now Amethyst’s face was darkening, her hair hiding half of her expression.

Steven looked nearly distraught. “But that was months and months ago! Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“We had a lot of other things going on! With the Cluster and the drill and then other stuff. And I wasn’t sure Peridot felt the same way, anyway.”

They’d forgotten about Lapis, standing next to the sled, until she said, “So are people going to keep sledding or what?”

“Yeah!” Steven said. “You should ride with me this time! Do you want to sit in front or back?”

Lapis looked unsure. “Behind you.”

“Okay! Let’s go!” Lapis sat behind Steven, leaving a slight gap between them, tucked her skirt around herself so it wouldn’t fly up in the wind, and gripped the sides.

“I’m ready!”

Steven reached out with one arm and pushed off, and down they both went, Steven shouting with glee. Lapis was more nervous than she let on, as her wings were out but mostly against her back, until near the bottom of the hill, when they moved out just enough to provide wind resistance and slow them down. Steven was clearly confused by the reduction in speed until he turned around. Peridot and Amethyst could hear them talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying, as Lapis lifted herself from the sled to take the nylon rope and pull Steven back up the hill.

Peridot spoke first, standing at the top of the hill and still holding Amethyst’s hand. “It’s okay you didn’t tell me or kiss me earlier. You’re right, there was a lot of other things going on, and I didn’t even know I liked you yet. I just…” Peridot frowned.

“You just what?” Amethyst turned towards her and grabbed her other hand.

“I just hate thinking about you...caring for me and not...not being able to say anything. That must have felt awful.” Peridot thought of what it would be like if she liked Amethyst as much as she did now, and hadn’t been able to say anything or kiss her or hold her hand, and it _hurt_. How did Amethyst bear it for all that time?

“Peri, it’s okay. I waited until things had calmed down some and I was more sure about how I felt and I thought you might feel the same, and then I asked you to come with me for New Year’s and I kissed you. And see, now I can kiss you all the time. Like this.” And Amethyst leaned forward just barely and gave Peridot the softest of kisses. Peridot smiled despite herself.

Amethyst pulled back with a smile of her own. “See, there you go. That’s better.”

“Oh my gosh, you guys are _so cute!”_ Steven jumped out of the sled to throw his arms around both of them.

“I’m the only one here who hasn’t had a turn on the sled with you, y’know,” said Amethyst.

Steven said, “You’re right! C’mon, let’s go!” Amethyst sat behind Steven in the sled and pushed off.

Lapis landed in the snow next to Peridot. “I was pretty sure you both liked each other a while ago. Or at least, that you liked Amethyst--you talked about her so much. But I didn’t want to meddle.” She shrugged. “I knew you’d both figure it out eventually. And you did.”

“Yeah, we did.” Peridot looked down the hill. Amethyst had apparently made them tumble off the sled on purpose, and was pulling Steven out of a snowbank, both of them laughing so hard they could barely stand, before plopping him into the sled and shape-shifting into some kind of furry four-legged animal with pointy ears and a long tail. She grabbed the rope in her mouth and ran uphill with Steven yelling “Mush!”

Once they got to the top, Amethyst let go of the rope and ran around Lapis and Peridot several times with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, bumping against their legs.

“Hey. Pet me.”

“What are you supposed to be?” Peridot asked.

Steven rubbed Amethyst behind the ears and said, “She’s one of those big dogs that pulls sleds in Alaska!”

“Siberian husky.”

“Yeah, that. They’re not usually purple though. And they don’t talk.”

“Woof,” Amethyst said.

A strange noise came from Steven, and he looked at his stomach. “Uh, I think I should go home and eat lunch soon.”

Lapis said, “That’s a good idea, since it looks like it might start snowing again.”

Peridot looked up--it had become cloudy at some point.

“Did you all want to come back to the temple with me? It’s nice and warm!”

“We don’t feel cold, Steven,” replied Lapis.

“Yeah but it’s still cosy and stuff. We can watch a movie or play games or tell stories or something.”

Amethyst, still shape-shifted, said “Peridot and Steven can get in the sled and I can pull you back to the warp pad like this.”

Peridot rubbed Amethyst’s fur. “I’d love to go to the temple.”

Lapis said, “I dunno. Sounds like it might get kind of crowded. I think I’ll stay here at the barn. Keep an eye on the fish. Make sure they don’t freeze.”

The other three still made a funny little parade for the distance back to the warp pad: Steven and Peridot in the sled, a fluffy purple dog pulling them along. Amethyst shifted back just as they arrived at the warp pad and all stepped on, and in a flash of light were in the warm glow of the temple. Garnet and Pearl were in the kitchen and Pearl was pulling something out of the oven.

“Good timing. Garnet, you were down to the minute,” Pearl said. Garnet just smiled. “I’m glad you’re indoors; there’s going to be more snow.” She put the sweet-smelling baked good on a rack and closed the oven door and then looked up. “Oh! Peridot, nice to see you again.”

Steven ran into the kitchen. “Garnet! Pearl! Guess what?!” He didn’t give them any time to answer before nearly shouting, “Amethyst and Peridot are girlfriends! I saw them _kissing!”_


	8. Amedotbomb5, day six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: Eskimo Kisses
> 
> (continued from the last chapter again!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short mention of past Amethyst/Vidalia and alcohol. Otherwise mostly fluff

Amethyst suppressed a groan. Peridot looked like a deer in the headlights, so Amethyst held her hand again. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” she said quietly.

“I know.” But her voice was a little wobbly.

They walked over to the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar next to Steven. Pearl was ladling out soup from a pot on the stove for Steven and Amethyst. The pie cooling on a rack smelled like apple and Amethyst’s mouth watered.

Pearl looked up with a smile. “Is that true? You two are a romantic item?”

Steven smiled around the spoon in his mouth. Amethyst felt her face go hot. “Yeah.” 

“I suspected as much. I’ve hardly seen you lately except with Peridot.” Pearl looked at Peridot and her expression softened. “Peridot. You don’t need to be scared. This isn’t Homeworld. If you like Amethyst and she likes you, nobody is going to be angry. Nobody is going to punish you.”

Peridot nodded but still didn’t say anything; she just looked over to Garnet, who gave her a thumbs-up. Peridot did the same back and blushed. 

“Well, that’s over with, finally.” Amethyst swallowed all her soup in one gulp and put the bowl down. “Peri, wanna go into my room for a bit? I’m sure Steven wants to show them the video of us falling off the sled, and we’ll be back in time for me to eat some of that pie.” 

“Okay!”

The moment the temple door closed behind them, Amethyst found a soft surface to sit on, pulled Peridot sideways into her lap, and kissed her before leaning back and sighing with relief. “That went well.”

“I thought you said you weren’t worried!” 

“I didn’t think we’d be, like, in trouble or anything. But I’ve never had a girlfriend. I know Pearl and Garnet are totally okay with gems kissing each other and stuff, obviously; but I’ve never kissed another gem, so I didn’t know how they’d react to you and me specifically, y’know?”

“Wait, have you kissed  _ anyone _ before?”

“Have you?”

“No, but you knew that.”

“True. Um. I kissed a human named Vidalia a few times, years ago, before Steven was born. You haven’t met her yet.” It was weird to think about now--Vidalia had been so drunk that first time, telling Amethyst she was pretty and then mashing her face into Amethyst’s. Amethyst still wasn’t sure Vidalia even remembered it. The next few times, though--and Amethyst had once ended up with paint in her hair and on her clothes--and Pearl had looked so scandalized but Rose had laughed--but that was so long ago; or at least it felt like ages ago. She shook her head. “But no, I’ve never kissed another gem before you, not like, romantically.”

“I guess your choices were somewhat limited.”

“That’s an understatement. So, I take it Homeworld is…not big on gems kissing.”

Peridot frowned. “It’s complicated. Gems of similar types are given a certain amount of leeway. Quartzes especially are known to be, um, friendly with each other; but peridots mostly work alone.” 

“Mm. You’ll have to tell me more about it later.” From this vantage Peridot’s neck was far too enticing, and Amethyst nuzzled her face into it, making Peridot squeal. 

“That tickles!” 

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” But Peridot was smiling at her.

“Nope. Kiss me anyway.” And Peridot did just that, and Amethyst wondered if she’d ever been this happy; a goofy green nerd in her lap with arms wrapped around Amethyst and her hands buried in Amethyst’s hair. 

A few minutes passed before Amethyst reluctantly pulled back. “We should get back, or we’re gonna teased more. Also I want some of that pie.”

The knowingly indulgent smiles Pearl and Garnet both gave Amethyst and Peridot when they walked back into the kitchen was a little embarrassing, but Steven was oblivious and all too happy to cut a large slice of apple pie for Amethyst. 

“Peridot, did you want any?”

“No, thanks. It smells nice though.”

This time they sat on the couch and floor around the low table. Steven dug through his shelves looking at board games and debating their various merits with Pearl and Garnet, and Amethyst ate the large slice of pie as slowly as she could--which still meant it was gone in three bites. Peridot was looking at her wide-eyed, and Amethyst laughed and leaned in for another kiss. 

Peridot giggled and half-heartedly tried to push her away. “Nooo! Your face is gonna be sticky from the pie!” 

Amethyst looked right into Peridot’s eyes--and rubbed her nose against Peridot’s as she continued to giggle.

“Are you guys Eskimo kissing?!” Steven had been watching after all. Whoops. 

“They’re not called Eskimos, Steven, they’re Inuit; and that’s not actually how they kiss anyway,” said Pearl. “Ahem, you two, we picked out a game, if you’d like to play.”

“Uhhh, sure!” Amethyst turned back to the low table as Steven dealt them each cards, and snuck a peak at Peridot, who was sneaking a peak at her. They both giggled again.

Peridot sat up straight and looked at Steven and cleared her throat. “So, how do you play this?”

Steven took a deep breath and launched into a long-winded explanation, which Peridot mostly seemed to follow. 

Meanwhile Amethyst looked up--and Pearl and Garnet were both giving her that look again, understanding and sympathetic but also amused. Amethyst hid her face behind her hand of cards. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely think Amethyst and Vidalia fooled around at some point. And I'm not alone there--plz enjoy this comic in which Amethyst and Peridot kiss for the first time: http://crystalwitches.tumblr.com/post/145257751276/ill-get-my-coat-this-is-a-kind-of-sequel
> 
> And speaking of Steven acting like a little brother (lol I had a screenshot of Peridot's bragging as my phone's lockscreen for MONTHS): http://crystalwitches.tumblr.com/post/145427820486/imagine-the-topic-of-kissing-is-brought-up-around
> 
> Yeah anyway those are both some of my fave Amedot comics of all time, lol


	9. Amedotbomb5, day seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amedotbomb prompt: Warm By the Fire
> 
> (fluffier than Lion's mane, y'all)

The predicted snowfall arrived with gusts of wind strong enough to make the windows rattle, and thick clouds dark enough to dim the afternoon light coming into the room. Peridot turned to look at the white flakes beating against the glass, and spent a half-second worried about Lapis before remembering that just last night, Lapis had disappeared for several hours during the initial snowfall, and had come back with snow clinging to her hair and one of her rare smiles. Apparently flying through a blizzard was an enjoyable experience. It was a good thing her water wings didn’t freeze. Peridot wondered if it took effort to keep her wings liquid when the air was below freezing and resolved to ask Lapis later.

“Earth to Peridot, Earth to Peridot. It’s your turn,” and Amethyst poked her in the side.

“Oh!” Peridot turned back, and looked at the cards in her hand and on the table before placing some into the upturned stack, one at a time.

Amethyst groaned and pulled four cards from the draw pile. “Aw maaaaan. You’re kicking my ass.”

“Amethyst, language.”

“Sorry, P.”

Steven looked at the stack of cards with his brows furrowed and his tongue out to one side before his eyes lit up. He placed the single card in his hand on the upturned stack and shouted, “I win!”

“You sure did, Steven. I was so close this time, too!” Pearl smiled and started taking everyone’s cards to shuffle them together before the next game.

“Hey, can we have a fire? I know we still have power; it’d just be nice.”

Garnet shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” Steven and Garnet walked over to the open metal cone connected to a tube that went up and out of the ceiling, and started stacking rough bits of dead tree of various sizes inside, from the pile nearby.

Peridot looked at Amethyst. “Are you going to light it? I’ve seen you breathe fire.”

“Eh, that was more burping fire, and only because I’d drunk a bunch of cooking oil. I can’t just, like, do it whenever. Garnet’s got this.”

“With her electrical powers?”

“Nah, there’s a box of matches over there.”

Pearl neatly placed the stack of shuffled cards on the table, then looked up at Peridot and Amethyst with a serious expression. “I’d like to take this chance to talk to the two of you.”

A jolt of irrational fear shot through Peridot, which didn’t go unnoticed--Amethyst casually moved towards her a little, so their legs were touching; and Peridot wondered for the hundredth time how it was possible for physical contact to be so soothing. Not just any physical contact, though. Specifically Amethyst’s.

Pearl’s voice was low but clear. “I know you two are capable of keeping things appropriate in front of Steven so I’m not going to worry about that.” Despite her words, she gave a pointed look at Amethyst.

“Aw, c’mon Pearl, we’ll keep things mostly G-rated around him.” Amethyst saw Peridot’s confused expression. “Uh, stuff that’s okay for kids. Though Steven’s old enough for PG-13. In movies, anyway. Oh, forget it, I’ll explain later.”

Pearl looked at Peridot and her face softened. “And I meant what I said earlier. As long as you two are happy, that’s all that matters.”

She glanced up at the painting over the door before staring out the window, into the distance. “I know, though...you can’t just...turn off that worry. About what would happen if this was Homeworld. It can take a while for that fear to go away, even if you logically know there’s nothing to be afraid of. Be patient with yourself. And if you ever need to talk about it, Peridot, Garnet and I are here, okay?” Peridot could only nod. It was a strange kind of comfort, to know she wasn’t the first gem to go through this.

“In general, if either of you need advice or have questions or just want to talk, you can always come to us. Romantic relationships aren’t always easy, and it’s one thing to see other people work through things, and another thing entirely when it’s happening to you.” Pearl smiled. “Especially since the both of you can be a little stubborn and short-tempered. Don’t look at me like that Amethyst, you know I’m right.”

Next to her, Amethyst closed her mouth and crossed her arms over her chest with a “hmph.”

Peridot couldn’t help smiling. “She’s right, though. About both of us.”

“Yeah, I know, but she doesn’t gotta rub it in.”

Garnet came back and sat down, and Steven went into the kitchen and pulled a circular metallic object with a looped handle and a slight rattling sound out of a cabinet, along with an oven mitt. He looked at Peridot and smiled and said, “Popcorn!”

“You’ll have to wait a little longer, you’ll need coals for that. You could do it on the stove in the meantime,” Pearl said.

“Nah, I’ll just wait.” Lion moved from his place near the door to curl up in front of the fire as it grew. Steven sat facing the fire and leaned on him and held the metal pan in his lap, still wearing the oven mitt, ready to go the moment the fire was ready.

Garnet smiled at Amethyst and Peridot. “Speaking of stubborn and short-tempered. I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Pearl laughed. Amethyst rolled her eyes.  

Peridot realized they must be talking about Ruby and Sapphire. She’d barely met them that day with the baseball game and had been too distracted anyway. Garnet wasn’t short-tempered; it was odd to think one of her component gems might be.

What would her and Amethyst’s fusion be like? She hadn’t even let herself consider it until now. Peridot tried to imagine a gem with her and Amethyst’s qualities, except possibly far more patient and slow to act, and her mind boggled. And the idea of fusing with Amethyst at all….oh, stars. She wasn’t ready yet. And that’s if she even could.

Pearl picked up the deck of cards on the table. “Steven? Do you want to play another round while you wait for the fire to be ready?”

“Yeah. Watching the fire is nice but not very interesting.”

The game flew by (Garnet won this time), and then Peridot got to watch Steven make the popcorn over the fire; the foil top expanding as corn seeds exploded and steamed inside.

Amethyst waited until Steven had eaten his fill before consuming the rest.

The day passed easily, with occasional additions to the fire and other games and Pearl insisting that Steven eat a real dinner. It got darker and Steven yawned and brushed his teeth and put on pajamas, then walked up to his bed with Lion. Garnet and Pearl turned off all the other lights and retired to their rooms. Before they did, Amethyst volunteered to keep an eye on the fire until it went out. “Y’know. Safety.” Peridot agreed to keep her company.

“Just don’t keep Steven awake.”

“We won’t.”

Amethyst moved some of the cushions from the couch over near the fire along with a blanket, and they made a little nest, snuggled into it, and watched the fire slowly dim.

They didn’t talk much, and could only get away with a little kissing before Peridot looked guiltily up to where Steven was sleeping.

“He’s snoring, he won’t know,” Amethyst whispered into her ear, making her shiver.

“Still! Let’s wait until we’re in your room.”

“Aw, okay.”

Amethyst lay down with her head in Peridot’s lap, looking up at her. The storm had calmed down outside, letting some moonlight through the windows, which was brighter than usual because it was reflecting off the snow. Combined with the warm light of the fire, it made Amethyst even more lovely than usual, and Peridot couldn’t look away. The low lights sparkled in her gem and made her hair almost glow and highlighted every feature.

“Watcha thinkin’ about, Peri?”

“You’re so beautiful,” Peridot blurted out.

Amethyst looked away, letting her hair hide part of her face. Even so, she could see Amethyst blushing. “Nah.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Yeah, well. You’re not so bad yourself, y’know.” And Amethyst smiled up at her again, reaching a hand up to brush fingertips against her gem, then down her nose and across her lips.

Peridot felt like she couldn’t hold all of what she was feeling, like it had filled her up entirely but there was still more, like she could burst with it.

The feeling had a name, and remembering that made things fit into place, somehow.

“I love you.”

Amethyst’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She blinked several times; her eyes were wet. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Peri, I…” Amethyst bit her lip, looked away, looked up at her again.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know.”

Amethyst sat up, and cupped Peridot’s face in her hands. “But...Peridot, I love you, too. I have for ages.” And then Amethyst kissed her, and somehow it was different than all their other kisses before now. And Peridot had thought it was more than she could hold but now she was even fuller than that, and the best way to tell Amethyst was with kisses, so she kissed Amethyst again and again. And then they lay down and Amethyst wrapped her arms around Peridot and kissed her and said she loved her, and Peridot did it back, and after lots and lots more kissing and whispering and looking at each other, Amethyst gently dozed off.

And Peridot told herself she’d stay awake and just look at Amethyst as much as she wanted, but the fire died out and the moon moved behind the cliff and the room darkened to nothing but starlight and Peridot slowly, slowly fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted a day late, but better late than never. 
> 
> I realized as I was writing this, that I've never actually written them saying "I love you." In my finished multi-chapter fic they aren't quite there yet. In my un-finished multi-chapter fic they're not even close. (On top of that, they're both human au's!) And all my other fics are basically porn and/or crack. (EDIT: wait, yes I have, they say it twice each in Peridot Visits the Zoo. WHOOPS.)
> 
> I'm so proud of myself for writing something for each of the prompts. And it became something of a cohesive story, even! I kinda wish I'd posted them as their own story on ao3 instead of part of my random tumblr things. C'est la vie. 
> 
> Also! Please imagine Steven's reaction in the morning if he gets up first, and looks downstairs and sees Amethyst and Peridot asleep and cuddled up. (I'm hoping hoping hoping that will happen in the show: Amethyst will show Peridot how to sleep and Steven will find them spooning somewhere and let out a squeal of glee so high-pitched only dogs (and Pearl, probably) can hear him.)


	10. Lapamedot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot, Amethyst, and Lapis go to mini-golf on a date together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this months ago on tumblr and never posted it here, whoops.

Peridot, Amethyst, and Lapis go to mini-golf on a date together: because you know Beach City totally has some run-down mini-golf. 

Peridot tries to plan her shots via geometry and physics, but can’t hit the damn ball accurately, and gets pissy and frustrated. She blames the cheap construction of the golf course. Also she’s wearing ugly golf pants she found at the thrift store, which the other two find adorable. (They came from the boys’ section.)

Amethyst would probably be pretty good at it if she tried, but she doesn’t have the patience, so instead it’s more like, “Hey, I bet I can hit this ball so it smacks that bald guy over there in the back of the head.” Peridot thinks that’s a terrible idea, but Lapis thinks it sounds hilarious. Amethyst doesn’t want to get them all kicked out, so she hits the ball hard enough to hit a windmill blade and break it off, instead; and then claims it wasn’t on purpose. 

Lapis is great at it, but doesn’t care all that much, which frustrates Peridot and amuses Amethyst. But she also cheats at the water hazards. 

They get snow cones afterward. (Lapis won, of course.) Amethyst gets hers in clashing flavors–root beer and lemon–and eats it in one go. Peridot takes forever to decide on lychee flavor, and tastes it so slowly that it’s mostly melted by the time she gives up and gives the rest to Amethyst. Lapis gets hers with blue raspberry, decides it’s not her thing after a couple of tastes, and levitates it above Amethyst’s head for a moment, then lets it drop into Amethyst’s open mouth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lapamedot seems to be the commonly accepted tag these days, but once upon a time I saw crystalwitches on tumblr tag it "lapidothyst" and that's the one I keep using for my own purposes!


	11. Soothing Proximity

The light of the warp pad cleared in the Prime Kindergarten, and Peridot knew she was in the right place. 

Her relief at finding Amethyst was short-lived. She knew Amethyst was here because she could hear her suppressed sobs echoing off the walls of the Kindergarten. The sound made something in Peridot’s chest tighten painfully. It was an unfamiliar sensation. She’d think about it later, though.

Even knowing the warp pad’s sound had given her away, she felt the urge to step quietly over to the hole Amethyst had emerged from, thousands of years ago. The hole from which now came the sounds of Amethyst’s crying. Peridot couldn’t see into the small cave at this angle, and she was still a dozen footsteps away when Amethyst spoke, her voice ragged and wobbly.

“Go away, Pearl!” 

“It’s not Pearl, it’s me.”

“Peridot?” Amethyst’s sobs were startled quiet, but her breathing was uneven and there was a long sniff. “What are you doing here?”

Peridot crossed her arms over her chest. She felt a chill unrelated to the ambient temperature. “I wanted to see you. Can I come in?”

“No!” 

“Okay.” Peridot sat down on the ground against the canyon’s wall, a bit away from the opening, and hugged her knees. She was messing this up. She hadn’t asked Steven or Pearl or Garnet or anyone for advice before trying to find Amethyst. And now that Peridot was here she was worse than useless. She pulled her arms tighter around her knees. She could still hear Amethyst’s breaths hitching. 

“I have observed that both the gems and humans living on earth find physical proximity soothing after difficult or unpleasant experiences. I wanted to offer you that, if you were amenable. But...if you want me to go away, I will.”

“You came here to give me a hug?”

“I--well--yes. If you want one. Or I can just sit near you, if you’d prefer.” 

“Did Steven put you up to this?”

“No. None of the others know I’m here.” What did Steven have to do with anything?

A moment of silence; another sniffle. Then, quietly: “Yeah, alright.”

Peridot jumped to her feet, then forced herself to walk calmly to the entrance to Amethyst’s hole. 

Even as small as Peridot was, she blocked what little light came in; so it took a few seconds for Peridot to see Amethyst, curled up on herself near the back with her face hidden by her knees and her hair. Peridot walked the few steps in and sat next to her so their sides were touching. Amethyst leaned on her. The strange tightness in her chest eased slightly. 

It only lasted a moment, though. Amethyst’s breathing sped up, there was a choking sound, and she was crying again, her shoulders moving. She sat up and away from Peridot, covering her face with her hands. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you don’t have to be here.” Amethyst’s words were so garbled by tears and muffled by her hands that Peridot barely understood her. 

“I want to be here.” She wrapped her arms around Amethyst’s shoulders, hoping against hope the gesture would be welcome. 

Amethyst stiffened for a breath, and then she turned and leaned into Peridot and she was crying onto Peridot’s shoulder, great heaving sobs that shook her whole body. 

Peridot just held on, petting Amethyst’s hair, rocking slightly, her own eyes leaking a little. It felt awful to know Amethyst was hurting like this. But she had to stand it, she had to bear it, she had to be there while Amethyst wept and wept until there was nothing left. 

It could have been minutes or hours later that Amethyst’s arms came up to wrap around Peridot’s neck, and her tears slowed and breathing evened out. Peridot could feel a damp patch on her uniform but she didn’t care. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not yet. I just want to stay here with you a little longer.”

“That’s fine.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in August, I had a horrible argument with a friend, one that ended my friendship with them and someone else. I found myself imagining a scene very similar to this over and over in the first few weeks after it happened, and it provided some comfort to me.
> 
> It took months to have anywhere near enough emotional distance to write it down, and it still took several days to write despite how short it is, and I still had to write it from Peridot's POV even though I always saw myself as Amethyst in this scenario. 
> 
> And I have no idea what Amethyst is upset about. I decided to leave that open-ended intentionally.


	12. Rose and Amethyst

I bet Rose held Amethyst a lot, especially when they first found her. I think it’s possible Amethyst taught herself to sleep as a way of passing the time when she was still alone in the Kindergarten, but being held in Rose’s arms or in her lap, feeling truly safe and warm and loved for the first time in her life, could be so soothing she’d fall asleep.  

It was the fastest way to calm Amethyst when she would act out. Maybe she made a small mistake on a mission that blew up into a bigger one because she handled it badly; or maybe she broke something and lied about it. She knows something is missing, like she was made for something, like she’s waiting for something, but nobody has said what, and it turns around and around in her head until it makes her mean. Rose would sweep her into her lap and hold her, and pet her hair, and Amethyst would wiggle at first, then calm down, and sometimes fall asleep. 

(And Rose would think, “My little amethyst, you’re so much more than what you were made for,” but all the love in the world can’t fill up that empty place Amethyst knows is there, that she can feel all the time.)

She needed it less as time went on, and sometimes she’d climb into Rose’s lap on her own, just for the comfort of it. Rose was still holding her sometimes up until her pregnancy got too big and in the way, and then she was gone. 

And sometimes, when Steven was young, she’d hold him, or he’d climb into her lap, and sometimes he fell asleep there, and she’d miss Rose, and wish, somehow, she was there to see Amethyst doing what Rose had done for her.

And now that empty place isn’t so empty. But sometimes, in the night, Amethyst will find a blanket and roll up in it as tight as she can, and curl up on some soft pillows, but it’s not the same. And she’ll breathe slowly, and try to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited to add: I found three different pieces of fan art I'd reblogged that are good examples of Rose Quartz holding a young Amethyst:
> 
> http://aprillikesthings.tumblr.com/post/161652599022/riotbreaker-cuddly  
> (This was the one I kept actually picturing while I wrote this, though I didn't realize it at the time.)
> 
> http://aprillikesthings.tumblr.com/post/168806660567/ajoraverse-3x3-post-it-doodle-because-i-really
> 
> http://aprillikesthings.tumblr.com/post/166608154089/samyzaja-i-love-the-idea-that-rose-had-a-strong


End file.
